IGEA’s Submission to the NZ Ministry for Culture and Heritage: Content Regulation in a Converged World

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage released a Discussion Paper on ‘Content Regulation in a Converged World’.

IGEA believes this is a great opportunity for the NZ Government to review the current classification system, audio visual content and the corresponding legislation in NZ to determine whether it is still relevant and how it could be improved to better address the changing market in light of technological advancements since it’s implementation.

You can read our full submission here.

IGEA believes that if New Zealand’s classification scheme is expected to withstand the rapidly changing digital landscape and avoid obsoletion, reform to the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 (the Act) and New Zealand’s classification system is critical. Accordingly, it is necessary to review any changes to the Act and options for improving the New Zealand classification system in the context of the current technological environment as well as any anticipated developments within it. Specifically, this response will address this with respect to the interactive entertainment industry.

To further support our submission, IGEA has published a paper, Current and Emerging Issues for the Classification of Video Games in New Zealand